This invention relates to a cleaning device for a playing head of a player and/or recording unit.
To clean the playing/recording head of a playing/recording unit, there are disclosed in the prior art devices which employ a cassette-like housing having a wiper arm pivotally mounted therein for reciprocating motion. At one end of the wiper arm, there is a cleaning pad which wipes back and forth against the head of the unit. In some instances, the wiper arm has a spring device which resiliently urges the cleaning pad against the head of the unit. One of the problems encountered is that the head configurations of some units differ from one another, and also the location of the head in its playing mode is sometimes at a more forward or at a more rearward position in different units.
Also, in at least some of these prior art units. the wiper arm is moved back and forth by a drive mechanism that is driven from a spindle of the unit. Another problem arises from the fact that if the wiper arm encounters too much resistance in moving across the head of the unit, this resistance will trigger an automatic shut-off mechanism in the unit which stops operation of the cleaning device.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device for a player and/or recording unit, which reliably cleans the head of the unit, without encountering undesirably high resistance to the cleaning motion of the device.